Sweden B2C eCommerce Report 2018

29 August, 2018

Insights

B2C ecommerce turnover in Sweden rose to €14.5 billion in 2017, and is
forecasted to increase at an even higher rate to €16.2 billion in 2018.

Ecommerce
Foundation’s study delves into the details of the Swedish B2C ecommerce market,
consumer behaviors and trends. The report also includes expert interviews with
leading logistics providers and retailers in the Swedish ecommerce market,
including Asendia, Mazars, Osudio, SAP, and Trustly.

Ecommerce Facts & Figures in Sweden

Almost the entire population in Sweden is accessing the internet, as with most of the Scandinavian countries. In 2017, internet penetration was 97% and is forecast to grow to 99% in 2018. Moreover, 81% of those accessing the internet in 2017 shopped online, expected to increase to 86% in 2018.

Cross-Border Specifics

Scandinavian countries are very familiar with purchasing across the border, particularly for well-known or luxury brands. Regarding cross-border ecommerce purchases, from 2016 to 2017, Sweden saw the highest growth amongst sellers with an unknown country of origin (+5%) and non-EU sellers (+1%), while experiencing a decline amongst sellers from other EU nations (-1%) and national sellers (-2%). The main countries Swedish consumers purchased from in 2017 were China (36%), the United Kingdom (24%), Germany (21%), and the US (15%). The most popular cross-border product categories were clothing (31%), home electronics (21%), and media (11%). However, Swedish consumers still need some convincing. As compared to all of their Nordic counterparts (Norway, Finland, and Denmark), they are recorded to have the lowest percentage of foreign purchases.

Social Media & Technology

Social media use in Sweden experienced a sizeable increase from 2017 to 2018, as the share of the population actively using social media increased from 67% to 73%. Swedish consumers are also using social media to voice their opinions regarding which webshops they like the most.

There are a few main purchase sources for online consumers in Sweden, with the most popular being Google/search engines (73%), followed by customer reviews (71%), and family/friends/acquaintances (64%). Clearly, webshops can have some influence on the main two sources by allocating more towards SEO, as well as by ensuring a customer review system is in place, and/or ensuring the reviews left elsewhere by customers are complimentary.

Consumer Preferences & Behaviors

Online shoppers in Nordic countries are a bit more forgiving when it comes to delivery speed, as it is common to wait several days to receive products purchased online. In fact, the majority of consumers (62%) expect their products somewhere between 2-4 business days, which is significantly longer than some other European countries. Moreover, the majority of purchasers (54%) either never check the delivery status of their order or only check it once.

The most used payment method in Sweden is invoices (37%), followed by debit/credit cards (26%). Although desktop computers and laptops are still the main locations for online purchases, mobile payment app usage is experiencing a record high over the last 5 years, with 25% of consumers using one in 2017.

In 2017, consumers were asked what the most important factors of an online store were, and 97% said clear product information. While Sweden’s online shoppers are happy to wait a few days to receive their products, they like to know in advance that they are purchasing the right items. Following clear product information, the other most important aspects of a webshop were: an easy to navigate webshop (94%), good search functionality (92%), good range of selection (85%), clear return information (82%) and security certifications/seals (82%).

Check out the infographic below for report highlights from Ecommerce Foundation.

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